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NOUS41 KPHI 122030
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PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT - WINTER STORM SUMMARIES
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
330 PM EST WED JAN 12 2005
...ICE STORMS SEVERELY IMPACT THE POCONOS AND PARTS OF NORTHWEST
NEW JERSEY...
WHILE THIS WINTER SEASON HAS BROUGHT LITTLE OR NO SNOW TO MOST
OF THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC REGION, BACK TO BACK STORMS HAMMERED THE
POCONO COUNTIES OF MONROE AND CARBON AS WELL AS PARTS OF
NORTHWESTERN NEW JERSEY. THERE WAS SNOWFALL AS WELL, HOWEVER
ACCUMULATING ICE WAS THE MAIN IMPACT ACROSS THESE REGIONS, WITH THE
POCONOS TAKING THE BRUNT OF THE STORMS. BELOW ARE GENERAL SUMMARIES
OF ALL THREE STORMS SO FAR THIS WINTER SEASON.
...JANUARY 5-6, 2005...
A COLD FRONT WHICH MOVED THROUGH THE REGION LATE ON JANUARY 4TH
ALLOWED A COLD LOW-LEVEL AIRMASS TO SETTLE INTO THE AREA. AS LOW
PRESSURE ORGANIZED ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI AND OHIO VALLEYS, MOISTURE
TRACKED ALONG THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY. THIS MILDER, MOIST AIR WAS LIFTED
UP AND OVER THE COLDER AIR AT THE SURFACE. THIS PROCESS ALLOWED SNOW
TO DEVELOP, BUT IT THEN CHANGED TO FREEZING RAIN AS THE LAYER OF
COLD AIR BECAME RATHER SHALLOW NEAR THE SURFACE. FREEZING RAIN FELL
FOR A GOOD PORTION OF JANUARY 6TH ACROSS THE POCONOS AND INTO FAR
NORTHWESTERN NEW JERSEY. THE POCONO COUNTIES OF MONROE AND CARBON
WERE HARDEST HIT WITH 0.50 TO 0.75 INCHES OF ACCUMULATING ICE.
THE ACCUMULATION OF ICE CAUSED POWER LINES AND TREES TO COME DOWN,
LEAVING THOUSANDS WITHOUT ELECTRICITY, INCLUDING SOME OF THE
SHELTERS. AREAS JUST TO THE SOUTH, SUCH AS THE LEHIGH VALLEY,
EXPERIENCED SOME ICE AS WELL, BUT A SLIGHT WARM UP ALLOWED MIXED
PRECIPITATION TO CHANGE OVER TO A COLD RAIN IN THE REGION. THE
POCONOS AND NORTHWESTERN NEW JERSEY WERE NOT SO LUCKY. GRADUALLY
THE PRECIPITATION MOVED NORTH AND TAPERED OFF LATE ON JANUARY 6TH.
...JANUARY 7-8, 2005...
THIS EVENT WAS SIMILAR TO THE PREVIOUS ONE DISCUSSED ABOVE, BUT
THE IMPACT OF THE STORM WAS EVEN GREATER AS IT FOLLOWED RIGHT ON THE
HEELS OF THE PREVIOUS STORM. AS CLEAN-UP AND ELECTRICAL RESTORATION
EFFORTS CONTINUED ACROSS THE HARDEST HIT AREAS, YET MORE ICE WAS
EXPECTED. ONCE AGAIN, MOISTURE MOVED IN FROM THE SOUTHWEST AND WAS
LIFTED UP AND OVER THE COLD AIR LOCKED IN AT THE SURFACE. THIS
RESULTED IN YET ANOTHER FREEZING RAIN EVENT FOR THE POCONOS AND FAR
NORTHWESTERN NEW JERSEY. ACCOMPANYING THIS STORM, ABOUT 0.25 INCHES
OF ICE ACCUMULATED ON TOP OF THE ICE THAT FELL FROM THE STORM JUST A
DAY OR SO EARLIER. THE ADDITIONAL ICE ACCUMULATION CAUSED MORE POWER
LINES AND TREES TO TOPPLE, WHICH GREATLY SLOWED DOWN THE RESTORATION
PROCESS. AS POWER LINES WERE REPAIRED, ADDITIONAL TREES CAME DOWN
KNOCKING SOME LINES BACK DOWN AGAIN.
MANY ROADS WERE BLOCKED BY EITHER DOWNED TREES OR POWER LINES. CREWS
WORKED DAY AND NIGHT TO GET POWER RESTORED AND ROADS CLEARED,
HOWEVER THE TEMPERATURES REMAINED AT OR BELOW FREEZING, COMPOUNDING
THE CLEAN-UP EFFORTS. SOME ELECTRICAL CREWS FROM THE PHILADELPHIA
AREA MADE THE DRIVE UP TO THE POCONOS TO ASSIST IN THE ELECTRICAL
RESTORATION. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS JANUARY 8TH URGED PEOPLE
NOT TO TRAVEL IN MONROE AND CARBON COUNTIES, AS HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS
REMAINED AND A FEW MAIN HIGHWAYS WERE EVEN CLOSED. WHILE THERE WAS
ICING IN FAR NORTHWESTERN NEW JERSEY (SUSSEX COUNTY), NO TRAVEL
RESTRICTIONS WERE IN EFFECT.
AS A COLD FRONT MOVED THROUGH THE REGION DURING THE AFTERNOON OF
JANUARY 8TH, THE WINDS INCREASED WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH ACROSS
THE POCONOS. THIS ADDED INSULT TO INJURY AS THE POWER LINES AND TREES
WERE ALREADY WEAKENED BY THE HEAVY LAYER OF ICE. LUCKILY THE WINDS
DID DIMINISH SOME LATE THAT NIGHT AND INTO THE NEXT MORNING. HOWEVER,
THE CLEAN-UP EFFORT HAD A WAYS TO GO.
...JANUARY 11-12, 2005...
AS IF TWO WINTER STORMS WERE NOT ENOUGH, ALONG CAME A THIRD ONE.
THERE WAS ONE POSITIVE TWIST WITH THIS FINAL STORM THOUGH AS THE
AIRMASS WAS A BIT COLDER THIS GO AROUND. THEREFORE, THE
PRECIPITATION STARTED AS ALL SNOW AND ACCUMULATED 3 TO 6 INCHES
ACROSS THE POCONOS AND NORTHWESTERN NEW JERSEY. GRADUALLY AS WARMER
AIR WORKED ITS WAY IN ALOFT LATE IN THE AFTERNOON OF JANUARY 11TH,
THE SNOW MIXED WITH SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN BEFORE CHANGING OVER TO
A PERIOD OF FREEZING RAIN. THERE WAS SOME LIGHT ICE ACCUMULATIONS
ACROSS THE POCONOS, HOWEVER THANKFULLY WITH THIS STORM THE INTENSITY
AND DURATION OF THE ICE WAS MUCH LESS COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS TWO
STORMS. THIS STORM GRADUALLY CAME TO A CONCLUSION DURING THE MORNING
OF JANUARY 12TH, AS JUST SOME FREEZING DRIZZLE AND FOG REMAINED.
EVEN AREAS FURTHER TO THE SOUTH ACROSS THE LEHIGH VALLEY DID NOT
ESCAPE THIS STORM AS SOME SNOW FELL. GENERALLY A COATING TO LOCALLY
AS MUCH AS 3 INCHES OF SNOW ACCUMULATED FROM BERKS COUNTY TO MORRIS
AND NORTHAMPTON COUNTIES, ALTHOUGH THE MAJORITY OF THIS SNOWFALL WAS
CONFINED TO THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. EVEN A BRIEF MIX OF SLEET AND
RAIN OCCURRED AS FAR SOUTH AS CECIL COUNTY MARYLAND DURING THE
AFTERNOON OF JANUARY 11TH.
TRAVEL ONCE AGAIN BECAME HAZARDOUS ACROSS THE SAME AREAS THAT
WERE IMPACTED TWICE BEFORE. THE INCLEMENT WEATHER SLOWED DOWN THE
CLEAN-UP AND ELECTRICAL RESTORATION EFFORTS THAT HAD BEEN ONGOING
FOR DAYS NOW. POWER REMAINED OUT FOR MANY PEOPLE WITH TREES STILL
DOWN ACROSS THE AREA. AS ONE WEATHER SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGER
PUT IT, "IT IS A REAL MESS HERE, AND WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH!".
...OVERALL SUMMARY...
WHEN ALL WAS SAID AND DONE, A SOLID 1-INCH OF ICE HAD ACCUMULATED ON
EXPOSED SURFACES ACROSS MONROE AND CARBON COUNTIES. THIS CAUSED LOTS
OF DAMAGE TO THE ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AS WELL AS THE LANDSCAPE.
EVEN WEATHER INSTRUMENTS WERE NOT SAFE FROM THE ICE. THE WEATHER
STATION LOCATED AT THE MOUNT POCONO AIRPORT BECAME ENCASED IN ABOUT
1-INCH OF ICE, NOT ALLOWING THE EQUIPMENT TO OPERATE. POWER WAS LOST
SEVERAL TIMES AT THE AIRPORT, WHICH ALSO IMPACTED THE OPERATION OF
THE WEATHER INSTRUMENTS. A TECHNICIAN FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE OFFICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NEW JERSEY DROVE UP TO THE AIRPORT TO
CHECK ON THE EQUIPMENT, AND HAD TO USE A HAMMER TO CHIP THE ICE OFF
THE WIND INSTRUMENTS. AREAL DAMAGE ESTIMATES IN DOLLARS ARE NOT YET
KNOWN.
$$
MICHAEL GORSE
METEOROLOGIST
NWS MOUNT HOLLY, NJ